No Other Gospel by Kraig Pullam
Galatians 1:1-1:10
Introduction
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Four score and seven years, means 87 years. It refers back to the year 1776, when our nation declared independence from Britain. I think Lincoln was trying to grab people’s attention by saying “Four score and seven years ago”. More people got involved, and listened to his speech, because it sounded more interesting. Lincoln was saying that 87 years ago our ancestors developed this nation. He is saying that the people need to pay attention to the war, because the same people who fought for the development of their nation are now fighting each other.
On January first, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation was issued during the American Civil War. The first proclamation- issued the November before- said that the slaves in Confederate states were free. For some slave owners, this statement was “too vague.” Which states were 100% “Confederate?” The second proclamation- issued by Lincoln- clearly stated specific states that were under effect. It freed thousands of slaves, even the day it was put forth.
The purpose of the Proclamation
It was meant to end slavery, in the USA. Some slaves were not freed until years later. This was because it took years for the news to get across the whole country. All the little towns in the “middle of nowhere” couldn’t know. The states the were stated in the proclamation were; Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. The Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most important documents in this country’s history. It brought freedom, and hope, to thousands of people.
Though the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863, it had minimal immediate effect on most slaves’ day-to-day lives, particularly in Texas, which was almost entirely under Confederate control. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves.
What makes freedom so elusive?
What makes liberty so precious?
What makes the gift of emancipation so invaluable and priceless?
Patrick Henry is noted to have said: GIVE ME LIBERTY OF GIVE ME DEATH
What a joy it is to be free!
What a delight it is to know that we aren’t imprisoned to a system or a nation that employs our bondage and holds us captive to a system of oppression and tyranny.
• This may be a mute point to those of us who were born in the 20th or the 21st century; but most of us are just a few generations removed from slavery therefore let me pause long enough to ask this question—what if you were born in slavery? Bondage? With chains?
I thank God that we live in a society and nation and world that allows us to have freedom of speech and the ability to come and go as we please.
• But just as we are thankful to be free physically, how much more should we delight in the fact that we are free spiritually.
I am here to declare that if you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart and into your life; if you’ve confessed with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ; and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus Christ from real death—you are saved and you have been truthfully, rightly and unequivocally set free!
Christ came to set those who are IN HIM…free from the law and oppression.
How sad and frightening it is, that there are some under the sound of my voice who are still in bondage.
- Somebody will leave here today with less than enough.
- Somebody will walk away today in guilt and wallowing in the corrosive power of your human shame
- Somebody here today will leave in pure defeat/rascality.
- Someone will continue to live the coming week in trifling duplicity, rascality, addiction, depression, discouragement, despair, confusion, stupidity, pride and every other fickle and foolish way.
But my brother and my sister—the reality is that you don’t have to!
The good news today is that Jesus Christ—the Life, Giver, King Himself has come to set you free!
Free from:
- the curse of the law
- the reign of sin
- the tyranny of death
- the clutch of man-made approval
Picture It:
• You are a native descendant of Tarsus, the place of your birth, being the capital city of Cilicia, a Roman province, traveling along the south-east coast of Asia Minor.
• You were born under privileged circumstances; for you were a product of Jewish and Roman vestige. Biologically, you were born of Jewish and Hebraic ancestry. More specifically you were and are apart and parcel of the Jewish Tribe of Benjamin, the Israelite nation.
• As a son of prominence and privilege you were raised an Israelite in Pharasaic custom and understanding.
• You were raised in Judaism.
• You attended Jewish Montessori and Academy and were taught both the Talmud and the Torah.
• You were instructed in the writings of the Jewish Historians and trained at the feet of Gamalial, the Jewish scholar.
• Because of your background and lineage, you made your way through the ranks of Pharasaic understanding until you become a part of the distinguished secret religious society known as the Sanhedrin Council.
• The Sanhedrin Council, of which you are apart, is most prominently known as the culprits who made a cheap deal with Judas Iscariot that the led the arrest, trial, passion, crucifixion and ultimate death of the Savior.
• As one of the lead players in the Sanhedrin Council, you become a major player in the persecution of the newly form Christian church.
• Your first prominent role is found in Acts chapter 7 where you are present at the stoning of the church’s first deacon, who’s name was Stephen. (Later people would say that you were an innocent bystander; however, whenever you attack the body of Christ you are guilty as charged)
• Whatever you felt that day you were obviously turned on by it. You had climbed the corporate and religious wall to success.
• You were living the good life.
• You were “A Pharisee Of the Pharisees’.
• You were living on 5 acres of land in a 7,000 square foot flat, drinking iced tea lemonade, driving around in your Bentley Azure chariot; shopping at the finest stores at Neimens and Saks Fifth Avenue in Tarsus. Until one day you are summoned to go down the familiar Damascus Road.
• And it is there, you have an encounter and interruption that literally rearranges and changes your life. To put it simply and plainly you have an encounter with Jesus Christ.
• And since that time you changed your life, altered your course and have made a new commitment to follow Him the rest of your life.
The best way to describe your NEW FOCUS and your NEW GOAL is found in your letter to the Philippians in chapter 3 verses 12 and 13.
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The words ‘lay hold’ katalambaino in the Greek means to arrest, to seize and to take over. In a real sense, Paul says that what happened to me on the Damascus Road is that Christ arrested me. And now God has given me a new goal: that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has ALSO laid a hold of me.
• In what happened to Paul, there is an intrinsic and an extrinsic truth.
o Extrinsic Truth: On that day, Paul moved out of Judaism and into Christianity.
o Intrinsic Truth: On that day, Paul moved out of bondage into freedom.
There are some important truths as it relates to spiritual freedom. Christ came to set us free. And we need to understand the nature of that freedom; and the outworking of that freedom. And few places in Scripture will help you and I to grasp and attain that truth like the book of Galatians. In fact, if I had to sum up the theme of Galatians and you said you could only use one word, tell me what the theme of Galatians is, the word I would use is ‘freedom’. It is the book that teaches us what it means to be free in Christ. You could easily characterize the book of Galatians as a spiritual Emancipation Proclamation. In it the Apostle Paul says ‘we were bound and Christ came to set us free’.
It is my hope that God would use the book of Galatians to really elevate our thinking and our living rejoicing in the God who came to set the captives free.
The law is synonymous with religion; freedom is synonymous with the gospel. You do know that there is a difference between religion and the gospel?
• Religion is man-made; the gospel is God-given.
• Religion is what man does for God; the gospel is what God does for man.
• Religion is man’s search for God; the gospel is God’s search for man.
• Religion is man trying to climb the ladder of his own self- righteousness, with the hope of meeting God on the top rung; the gospel is God coming down the ladder in the incarnation of Jesus Christ and meeting a world of sinners at the lowest rung.
• Religion is good views; the gospel is good news.
• Religion is good advice; the gospel is a glorious announcement.
• Religion takes a man and leaves him as he is; the gospel takes a man as he is and makes him what he ought to be.
• Religion leads to an outer reformation; the gospel leads to an inner transformation.
• Religion whitewashes; the gospel washes white.
• Religion can become a farce; the gospel is a powerful force, the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.
No one would have been better qualified to write such a letter than the Apostle Paul because he knew what it was like to be bound by the law; bound by religious dogma. Paul, before he got saved, was a Pharisee. Paul, before he got saved, paid great attention to the details of the law; and he, along with the Pharisees, spent a great deal of time making sure that the Jewish community understood that they had to cross every T and dot every I. That they had to live by the law, the traditions and the customs they were given. So he knew what it was like to be fixated upon and bound by the traditions and rules of the law. And AFTER his conversion he discovered what it meant to be FREE.
• Paul had been bound; Paul was now free; and Paul writes this letter to say ‘free is better’.
I don’t know if you know about it in your life but some of US can testify, ‘I WAS bound; I AM free; and FREE is BETTER!’.
- It’s better to be free.
- It’s better to walk in the joy of the Lord
- It’s better to serve God out of a want to, not a have to
- It’s better to come before the Most High God out of privilege and pleasure rather than obligation
- It’s better when you don’t have a religion that just weighs you down and bogs you down and you have to grab a little book to see if what you plan to do for the day is alright.
- It’s better to have Christ living IN you with the hope of glory.
- It’s better to have the Holy Spirit working THROUGH you.
- It’s better to walk FREE in the light of His love and the truth of His Word.
And so Paul makes this classic argument and case in the letter of Galatians to the churches.
Now the specific purpose of this letter was to refute the claims of the Judaizers. In order to understand Galatians you must understand who the Judaizers were. For these were people who acknowledged that, yes, Jesus is the Messiah, sent by God to deliver humanity. But moreover they insisted that in order for us Gentiles and every non-Jew to be saved, they have to become Jews if they are really going to be saved. They said that you cannot be a Gentile and be saved without effectively becoming Jewish.
- You had to be circumcised as a male.
- You had to, both male and female, adhere to the practices and the traditions and the customs of the law.
In other words, the Judaizers were saying and proclaiming that what Jesus did on the cross was not enough to save them and to save us. But rather they were saying that in order to be truly saved, it takes Jesus plus Judaism to save you.
- They said that in order for you to truly be saved that you had to obey the law.
And so Paul comes along, this place and region where he preached during his First World Missionary Journey; if you read the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 13, the Lord commissioned Paul and Barnabus to go out and begin to raise up churches and preach the gospel where the Lord would send them. And as a result of that First World Missionary Journey, several churches were established as people accepted the powerful, pure, unadulterated gospel; and the region of Galatia—which is modern-day Turkey—was one of the regions where people came to know Jesus Christ as Savior; and the churches in the region of Galatia were established. Paul goes off and preaches in other places; continues to establish churches in other places; finally gets back and is serving God in his home territory, he gets word that the Judaizers have gone to the churches in the region of Galatia and that they have ambushed and bombarded the church members in the region of Galatia and said, ‘We don’t know WHAT Paul told you. But if you are going to be truly saved, you not only have to accept Jesus as Messiah; but you have the adhere to the law and to circumcision.
After hearing of the churches in the region of Galatia being ambushed and bombarded by the Judaizers, Paul picks up his pen, opens up his papyrus and satchel, and begins to write to tell them that that is NOT the truth.
1. His first purpose and intent is to give a definitive claim upon who he is in Christ.
2. His second purpose is to reinforce the essence of the Gospel of Christ.
3. His third purpose is to advocate a lifestyle characterized by the grace of Christ.
I. THE DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST (1-2)
The Great Wall of China is a massive a 4,000 mile long fortified structure that stretches from the edge of Shanghai all the way to the eastern edge of Mongolia. Built in the 5th century BC and continuing all the way to the 16th century, the original purpose of this Great Wall of China was protect the Northern Borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks and various successive dynasties. The purpose wasn’t necessarily to keep the citizens in as much as it was to keep the enemy OUT. This gigantic structure cost an immense amount of money and labor. When it was finished, it appeared invincible and secure. But history records that the enemy breached it. Not by breaking it down or going around it. They did it by bribing the gatekeepers.
• It is true that if the enemy can’t defeat you from without; he will defeat you from within.
• And when the enemy can’t confiscate your surroundings he’ll challenge your convictions and your call; and use everything that is around you, in you and in front of you to discredit you.
And that is exactly what happens to Paul. Paul’s apostleship was under attack by false teachers in the area of Galatia. They were saying that Paul lacked apostolic qualification. If they succeeded in undermining his authority, they would also bring discredit to his message. It’s the age-old tactic of "discredit the messenger and thereby discredit the message."
Paul’s defense is made by way of a parenthetical statement—"Paul, an apostle, (not of men or by any man, but by Jesus Christ and God His Father who raised Him from the dead)" (ASV). In this sentence Paul states three things about his ministry.
A. Paul was not self appointed – "not by men"
B. Paul was not man appointed – "not by any man"
C. Paul was divinely appointed – "but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead."
Paul attributes his apostleship to the Living Christ and to the One who raised Him from the dead.
As a divinely commissioned apostle, he had been given authority from God. Therefore, what he had to say
was not from Paul the man, but from God through His servant Paul.
• Life of surrender
• Life of purpose
• Never allow other people to define who you are or what you are in Christ.
Paul adds weight to his authority by adding "and all the brethren who are with me" (v.2). Paul’s view of his ministry and message was shared by those who were with him.
To be sure, Paul did have some people issues along the way:
1. There were Paul’s friends who remember him before he met Christ and remembered how he used to be when he was Saul.
2. Second, there were the disciples who later became apostles, who had never met Paul prior the ascension of Christ.
3. Third, there were Paul’s enemies who had dodged and ran from him before he got saved. And they took it at face value when they heard the word on the street that he had surrendered to Christ and changed his life.
Paul identifies himself as an apostle. (greek - apostolos)
You may not believe this, but I could stop here and talk about the significance of Paul’s self-identification as an apostle for the next twenty minutes.
But as with all of our future study of Galatians, I will not be giving attention to every single detail and every nuance.
But let me point out one point of significance of the title of apostle.
The word meant that someone was sent as an agent or representative or an ambassador.
And this is certainly how Paul views himself.
He has been sent by Christ to be His agent, representative and ambassador.
This is a point that we accept today.
When you read Galatians this morning, you are hearing Christ’s appointed representative. You are hearing Christ.
Paul, though, is making the point for a reason.
He is telling the believers in Galatia that he is not to be classed with those who come with letters of recommendation from men.
He was not made an apostle by any council or church.
He was made an apostle by a personal encounter with Jesus.
He knew that he had a unique place in redemptive history.
And he carried an authority to govern and teach the early church.
- Paul says I will not allow myself to be defined by other people.
- There is a danger in allowing yourself to be approved by other people.
- If no one ever pats you on your back and tells you how good of a job you’ve done in the kingdom – you need to know that you’ve been called and approved by the Most High God.
- It is possible to be called even when you shouldn’t have been considered and you aren’t qualified.
II. THE DECLARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST (3-5)
In New York Harbor there is a lady who stands tall. She holds a torch in her hand, giving light. Inscribed on the pedestal upon which this lady stands are these famous words:
Give me your tired, your poor.
Your huddled masses
Yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of
Your teeming shore.
Sned these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside
The golden door.
We know this lovely lady as Lady Liberty, and she stands there in New York Harbor with a crown on her head that has seven spikes. The spikes speak of seven seas and seven continents. In other words, no matter where you are in the world, you can come with all your mess. You can come with all your problems. You can come with all your burdens. You can come with all your needs. You can come because Lady Liberty is holding a torch to show you the way.
At the bottom of Lady Liberty’s feet is a chain that has been broken. She is inviting the broken and the bruised people who have been held hostage in one situation or another. No matter where they are in the world, they are welcome to come to America to find freedom!
In like manner…God is holding the same promise of freedom to those who are looking to escape bondage. He welcomes all to come and to bring their problems, burdens, and needs. He is faithful to show us the way. And that is what Paul says!
1. PAUL’S MESSAGE (1:3-4).
Paul’s customary greeting of "grace" and "peace" affords him an opportunity to press home his message. GRACE, God’s unmerited favor and PEACE, the ending of war—does not come to man through works, but only through God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to this Paul notes three facts concerning our salvation.
A. The Problem – "our sins." In his book to the Romans, Paul reveals that sin is a universal problem. He says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Ro. 3:23). Later, he declares that "the wages of sin is death" (Ro. 6:23). The logical conclusion is, since all have sinned and are guilty before God, then all must die.
B. The Price – "Who gave Himself for our sins." In defining his gospel Paul said, "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you…For I delivered to you as of the first importance what I also received, that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the Scriptures" (1Cor. 15:1, 3). If Christ’s death pays our sin debt, then why do we need to be circumcised and keep the Law? If righteousness comes by keeping the Law, then Jesus didn’t have to die. If Jesus paid the debt in full, then all we need to do is believe and receive (Gal. 2:16 and Eph. 2:8).
C. The Purpose – "That He might deliver us out of this present evil world."
The term "world" is "aion" and refers to an age or period of time marked by certain characteristics. In this case it is identified as "evil," i.e., immoral and wicked. When one sees the world for what it really is, then and only then will he see the need for deliverance out of it.
The term "deliver" is "exaireo" and means to take out for one’s self. Its usage here indicates that God has a special interest in the result of His act and obtains pleasure by our deliverance.
D. The Plan – "according to the will of God the Father."
Christ’s death was no after thought on the part of God. It was preplanned and premeditated, for Jesus is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).
2. PAUL’S MOTIVE (1:5) – "To whom be glory for ever and ever!"
Like false teachers of today, the Judaizers were not ministering for the glory of Christ, but for their own glory (see 6:12-14). They weren’t busy winning the lost to Christ. They were winning men to their distorted view of the gospel. Paul’s motive was pure and godly: he wanted to glorify Jesus Christ. (See 1Cor. 6:19-20 and 10:31-33.)
III. THE DISTORTION OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST (6-10)
In our text, Paul informs his readers that they are trading the genuine gospel for a different gospel. In doing this he focuses on three things: 1) The Problem, 2) The Prescription and 3) The Preacher.
1. THE PROBLEM.
"I am amazed [astonished, stunned] that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ" (1:6-7).
The problem is understood only when we comprehend the distinct nature of the Gospel.
A. DISTINCTION. The Gospel Paul preached was unique in at least two ways.
1. Distinct in its origin. It comes from the God of grace. (See Gal. 1:11-12.)
2. Distinct in its offer. It offers God’s unmerited favor to those who believe its message. Instead of offering laborers a wage it offers them a gift. Neither Islam, Buddism nor any other religion make this offer to sinful men. God offers life for death, forgiveness for indebtedness and peace for guilt.
B. DESERTION. The Galatians were deserting the gospel of grace and the God of grace. It is impossible to desert one without deserting the other. They were abandoning liberty for legalism and life for law.
Paul was amazed at how quickly this had taken place. The enemy wastes no time in coming to steal the good seed from the heart of the new convert.
When one follows those that compromise the gospel, we go from “good news” to bad news.
What the Judaizers taught made it bad news because it makes light of God’s promise of grace.
They were no longer dependent on God’s grace, but their works as well.
What these teachers offered was a dependency, not on God’s mercy, but on what they were teaching.
Thus, the faith of the Galatians was no longer unique.
It would be like every other religion of the world, then and now.
It would be a religion of works.
• For example, Hinduism tells us that if we renounce the world and relate ourselves to the "spirit of the universe," we will at last find our way to peace.
• Buddhism sets before us eight principles by which man is to walk and thus find himself on the way to salvation.
Judaism says we must keep the Law absolutely and inflexibly and then we will be saved.
• Islam says that a man must pray five times a day and give alms and fast on the month of Ramadan and obey the commands of Allah. All are ways of works.
• Unitarianism says that having good character saves man.
• Modern humanism says salvation is by service to mankind.
• Jehovah’s witnesses tell you not to run for political office, celebrate your birthday, pledge allegiance to the flag or give a gift.
In every case, salvation is achieved by something we have to do.
So, Paul’s message is, you were free, but now you have returned to bondage.
He goes from astonishment to tragedy.
For Paul realizes that the church cannot tolerate a single drop of legalism to be intermixed with grace.
For when that happens, it does not just pollute grace, it reverses and destroys it.
C. DISTORTION. What they viewed as a "different gospel" was actually a "distorted gospel." The term "distort" translates a Greek term that means to transform into something of an opposite character. The message preached by the Judaizers reversed Paul’s gospel. It made salvation something to be attained by works—keeping the Law and being circumcised, plus faith in Christ. To believe this "distorted" version of the gospel required the adherent to abandon Christ.
- So much of what we see promoted and extorted in the church may be and look churchy but it is not divine.
2. THE PRESCRIPTION.
"But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed" (1:8-9).
In the previous two verses Paul focused primarily on the Galatians, but in verses eight and nine he trains his sites on the Judaizers.
A. THE COUNSEL. Paul counsels his readers to judge other messages by what he had preached to them. What was Paul’s message?
In First Corinthians 15:3-8, Paul summarizes the content of his gospel:
1. Christ died for our sins.
2. Christ was buried.
3. Christ was raised from the dead.
4. Christ appeared to witnesses.
When asked by the Jailer, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul responded, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:30, 31).
In Ephesians 2:4-9, Paul declared:
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Paul’s gospel was faith in Christ’s finished work plus nothing saves! In Romans 10:9, Paul states his simple
message, "…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him
from the dead, you shall be saved." Works are not a means to salvation, but the evidence that one is saved.
All Paul asked men to do was believe God’s message concerning His grace provision in Christ (Romans 10:9-11; Gal 2:16; Eph. 2:8). Any message that contradicts or differs from this is to be rejected as False and therefore impotent—unable to save.
Please note that our criteria for judging the messenger is the content of his message, not his style of delivery, his personality nor his status in the community.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul revealed that "Some" were "preaching Christ even from envy and strife" (1:15). These preachers were motivated by "selfish ambition" and they hoped to cause Paul "distress." Paul’s view concerning these wrongly motivated evangelists was, "…in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice" (1:17, 18).]
B. THE CURSE. If any angel or man preaches a gospel that differs from the gospel given to Paul by God and preached by Paul at the first, "…let him be accursed." The Greek term for accursed is anathema and means devoted to destruction. Simply stated, "let them be accursed--exposed for what they are, bound, and their work come to nothing."
3. THE PREACHER.
"For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please me? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ" (1:10).
A. THE ACCUSATION. The Judaizers accused Paul of preaching an incomplete gospel, so that he might gain the favor of the Gentiles. If Paul’s motive was the favor of man, then why had he written things that could turn them against him? Wouldn’t it have been to his advantage to write what they wanted to hear, instead of what they needed to hear?
B. THE RESPONSE. Paul was not a man pleaser, but a bondservant of Christ. His message had not changed and would not change to accommodate men. As the servant of Christ, he preached the truth revealed to him by Christ. His objective in life was to do the will of Another, to live his life in service to his King. This prohibited him from changing his message or adapting it to suit others.
A professional violinist was giving a concert. When he finished, the crowd jumped up from their seats and gave him a standing ovation. He had delivered a magnificent performance. The young violinist, with tears coming down his cheeks, walked off the stage, dejected. The stagehand saw him and said, ‘Why are you so sad? Those people are going crazy out there and you are crying. I don’t understand.’
‘Do you see the one man in the center down there? He is still sitting.’
The stagehand said, ‘Yeah, SP what? There are two thousand other people who are standing.’
‘This is true, but you don’t understand. That man down there in the middle is my daddy. He’s also my violin teacher. If he doesn’t stand, it doesn’t matter what two thousand other people do.’
If God doesn’t applaud when He sees how you live your life, it doesn’t matter what everybody else does.
